Book cover for The Good Immigrant: 26 Writers Reflect on America by Nikesh Shukla and Chimene Suleyman

The Good Immigrant

26 Writers Reflect on America

Nikesh Shukla
Chimene Suleyman
2019 Released
336 Pages
6-7 Hours
Audiobook Unavailable
Paperback Unavailable
Hardback Unavailable
Little, Brown and CompanyISBN 9780316524292

By turns heartbreaking and hilarious, troubling and uplifting, these "electric" essays come together to create a provocative, conversation-sparking, multivocal portrait of modern America (The Washington Post).

From Trump's proposed border wall and travel ban to the marching of white supremacists in Charlottesville, America is consumed by tensions over immigration and the question of which bodies are welcome. In this much-anticipated follow-up to the bestselling UK edition, hailed by Zadie Smith as "lively and vital," editors Nikesh Shukla and Chimene Suleyman hand the microphone to an incredible range of writers whose humanity and right to be here is under attack.

  • Chigozie Obioma unpacks an Igbo proverb that helped him navigate his journey to America from Nigeria.
  • Jenny Zhang analyzes cultural appropriation in 90s fashion, recalling her own pain and confusion as a teenager trying to fit in.
  • Fatimah Asghar describes the flood of memory and emotion triggered by an encounter with an Uber driver from Kashmir.
  • Alexander Chee writes of a visit to Korea that changed his relationship to his heritage.

These writers, and the many others in this urgent collection, share powerful personal stories of living between cultures and languages while struggling to figure out who they are and where they belong.

Nikesh Shukla

Nikesh Shukla is an author, screenwriter and one of the most prominent UK voices on diversity and inclusion in the arts. He is the editor of bestselling essay collection The Good Immigrant, which won the Reader’s Choice at the Books Are My Bag Awards, and was shortlisted for Book of the Year at the British Book Awards.

He is the author of a number of novels for both adults and young adults including Coconut Unlimited (shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award and longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize), Meatspace, Run Riot, The Boxer, Brown Baby and co-editor of The Good Immigrant USA.

Nikesh is the co-founder of the literary journal, The Good Journal and The Good Literary Agency and a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a member of the Folio Academy. He has been awarded honorary doctorates from Roehampton University and the University of Bath. He hosts the 'Brown Baby' podcast which explores how we raise our kids with joy and wonder in uncertain and bleak times.

Chimene Suleyman

Chimene Suleyman is a poet and writer of Turkish Cypriot descent who lives in London. She has written on the politics of race and immigration for the Guardian, the Independent, the BBC, NPR, and Sky News. She is the coeditor of The Good Immigrant.

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